Aeran is a student in Teach North Korean Refugees, studying with a lot of enthusiasm even though she is so busy. Watching her, it is clear that she can have only one leader in her life–herself! So she was not fit to live in North Korea.

Masha Klimenteva, one of Aeran’s tutors in the project, and hubby Kyle Kostashukashuk joined us today. TNKR cofounder Eunkoo Lee helped behind the scenes to make it happen. And from Hong Kong, thanks to Kary Wong, I met her exactly one year ago in Hong Kong (Yeonmi Park and I recorded a live podcast in Hong Kong then).

I’m one of Aeran’s fans, and I have learned that she is also one of my fans!

* We had only two orientations scheduled, but three of the tutors coming from far away, and unfamiliar with Seoul, arrived really late. So Eunkoo Lee and I met them from 7 pm for a third unexpected orientation.

* The refugees were curious about me, they wanted to know why I do what I do. The same with the last group of tutors at the last orientation.

* One refugee mentioned that it is amazing what we do without real infrastructure. We have held our orientations and matching sessions at TOZ, Mulmangcho, Freedom Factory, the Bitcoin Center.

* And I checked, I have 195 birthday messages on my Facebook timelines. I have more than 2,900 Facebook friends, so I guess I need to delete the other 2,700 who did not post a message. 🙂

* Special thanks to Christian Kim and Sareena Tanlines for talking us up to TaLK teachers. We have so many outstanding young people signing up to join TNKR.

* Years ago, I had to work on my birthday. I remember grumbling all day. But this September 5. I loved it.

A TV crew from Hong Kong stopped by this morning to record a clip about (TNKR) Teach North Korean Refugees. They interviewed me and also recorded a class with our super in-house tutor Grace.

Today is Grace’s last day, it has been an active couple of weeks for her! And today has been no different!

* Early morning tutoring session recorded by HK TV station
* Goodbye lunch with a student
* A writing session with a refugee
* Now, a 3 hour class with a refugee getting ready for a big exam at his hagwon.

* your co-director respects you enough after two years of working together to want to treat you to a nice birthday dinner in advance to thank you for teaching her so much…

* a humanitarian stops by the office to talk with you, brings you gifts, gives you great advice, and even gives you an idea for a future column…

* even teenage girls think you are a super cool guy (even though you were already an old man before she was born)…

* an outstanding young man tries to explain to you one of his ideas about social media, tries to explain it to you but when he recognizes that he is speaking a different language, he then stops by your office, clicks a few buttons, then shows you a relly cool thingamajigg that you still don’t quite understand but yeah, looks really good…

I had lunch today with a FAN! She says I am a modern hero, that she even thought about Martin Luther King Jr as she learned more about me. I hate comparisons with others, but I don’t fight when people make that one. 😉

This is a no-nonsense lady who doesn’t easily compliment people. But the way she was praising me, I could feel like pancakes when the syrup gets poured on top. So sweet!